Blame it On 4Kids
by forlornwriter
Summary: Go to profile to vote on pairing! Crackish. When Dani moves to Domino City after the death of her grandmother, she is hella confused. There's Japanese people with American names, a midget boy with a puzzle that grants him puberty, and misplaced accents. Welcome, Dani, to the 4Kids dub of Yu-Gi-Oh.
1. Joke's On You, Partie Un

**CHAPITRE UN** | _JOKE'S ON YOU, PARTIE UN_

To be quite honest, I was happy in Montreal, Canada. I had a good amount of friends, acquaintances, and knew various places to hang out, such as the cafe just down the street of my school, and the places to avoid, such as the Raper's Pit. Raper's Pit is actually the Smoker's Pit at the high school I go to, but perverts mostly are there instead of smokers (or smokers who are perverted)...because of this it got a name change, basically.

So, yes. I was perfectly fine staying in Montreal. One day I hoped to travel the world and see cool stuff — _what 'cool stuff', I had no idea _— but for my teenage years, I was perfectly content where I was.

That is until my grandmother, who resided in Japan, passed away.

The news was brought to me quite unexpectedly, the news of my moving to Japan for the funeral. It was during dinner time it was brought up, when I was busy shoving anything I could get my hands on into my mouth. (What? I'm a growing girl, okay? I can eat like a wildabeest if I want to! Hmmph.)

"Dani, your grandmother died," my mom said suddenly. Yeah, she really didn't beat around the bush, that woman. Must be where I got my blunt attitude from. Couldn't be Dad; he was too much of a softie.

Dad sniffled then, which just further supported my thoughts of him being a softie. Not that it was a bad thing, anyway. It was what attracted my mom to him in the — oh_kay_, that's really disgusting. I don't want 'Mom' and 'Dad' and 'attracted' in the same sentence, thank you.

Bleh.

Anyway, moving on to things that _don't _make me want to throw up.

"Grandmother...?" I had mumbled, confused. I still had one? Hadn't my grandmother died already? That must've been Mom's mother then, hmm.

That meant that my dad's mother died, which would explain why he was being much more of a softie than usual. Anything I said this week would cause him to burst into tears, which made me wonder if he was on his man period or something.

"Yes, dear," Mom had told me, patting my dad on the back as he continued to sniffle. "She lived in Japan, and just a few days from now is her funeral. We're going to be moving to Domino City for a few months, just so your father can come to...er, terms with it."

"Mommy!" Dad wailed, burrying his head in his hands and full-out sobbing now. Mom continued to pat his back, trying to be as..._wifely _as possible. Or something like that.

Man. Dad must've been a h_uuu_ge momma's boy or something.

Then again, his mother's dead, and Dad always cries during chick flicks. Even the really horribly cliche ones that make you want to point and laugh at the screen by how cheesy and stupid they are. Or maybe that's just me.

And then it hit me, what my mom had just said.

"Wait. What. Moving? MOVING?" I spat, finally stopping from inhaling my food. Er, I mean, eating. Yeah.

Moving to Japan? For _months_? Sure, I'd be fine with two weeks or something, since it _was _Dad's mom who died and all, but _to be gone from Montreal for months_?

"It's your _Dad_, Dani," Mom told me.

And, though you might've thought she meant it like Drake's song, Heartless, it wasn't. (By the song, Heartless, I mean the whole part where the song goes, _"How could you be so heartless?"_) She meant it more in the whole "it's your Dad, Dani, so of course he's going to need more time to cry his heart out and be emotional and stuff" way. 'Cause Dad was more of a softie than most women.

Now, don't go asking me where he got it from. It was probably his mother, though, since he's so torn up about it. Must be it.

"But...I just...my friends...my _life_..." I sputtered, before sighing heavily and nodding my head. "Fine. But we _are _coming back to Montreal, right?"

"Of course, dear. But we are going to be in Domino City for a while until your Dad has come to terms with the fact that his mother is —"

"MOMMY IS GONE!" wailed Dad again, sobbing even more pathetically into his hands. Mom and I winced at the sound, and Mom resumed patting him on his back.

"Alright, then. I guess it won't be too bad," I murmured.

But seriously. I had a grandmother who lived in Japan? I had no friggin' idea. The things you learn.

So. Yeah. That's how I ended up having to pack my bags, get into a plane, deal with having to sit next to my wailing dad (since my mom wasn't going to deal with the waterworks again), and go to _Japan _of all the random places to go.

But it sure does explain why my dad insisted that I learn Japanese, I guess. I just thought it was one of those random whims of his, like how he decided to move to Montreal from London when he got married to my mom and I was barely a thought. Well, I _was _a thought, since Dad wanted kids, but you know what I mean. I wasn't born at the time.

Then again, my dad _is _Asian and all, so he's Japanese then. I guess I just always thought he was Chinese automatically. Dad never outright told me he was from Japan unless I forgot about him mentioning it, but it's best if I don't ever say this aloud to him or he may end up making a huge deal out of it.

Plus, that would mean admitting I'm kind of racist, and that's not exactly something I'm proud of admitting, y'know? It'll just be my little secret.

Then again, everyone who reads this diary of mine will know that I'm racist. Shit. Let's just hope that no one is reading this then. It'll be a secret between me, my diary, and whoever is reading this, if anyone is.

Right. Where are my manners?

If anyone is reading this, then hello there! Nice to meet you. Name's Danielle Ito. But it's just Dani for short, since Danielle is too...weird for me. I like Dani better. The only one who calls me by my full name is my mom whenever I'm in trouble, really. Or when Dad gets all emotional about something and talks to/about me. (Don't ask why. I have no idea.)

Oh, wait. If I'm going to Japan now, does that mean my last name goes first? So I'm Ito Danielle or something, right?

Gah, Asian culture is _confusing_. It seems as if I'll have to get used to it, though.

Yay. This'll be _fun_. (Do sense the sarcasm there, thanks.)

* * *

If there is anything more terrifying than knowing I'm going to be unable to see my friends or even familiar places (i.e. my house with my super secret stash of junk food) for _months_, it'll be these words:

"Oh, by the way, Dani — you have to go to school here."

Oh, by the way, Dani — you have to go to school here.

_ Oh, by the way, Dani — you have to go to school here._

You have to be _shitting _me on this. Seriously? First moving to a country I know nothing about culture-wise (and I can sort of speak Japanese, but not fluently or anything!), now I have to go to school with a bunch of Japanese kids, too?

Man am I going to make a fool of myself. I just _know_ it.

"WHAT? MOM!" I whine, falling to my knees dramatically and placing my hands together in a begging motion. "Please! I don't wanna go to school here!"

The reason I didn't mind coming here too much was A) because of Dad, and B) because that meant no school for who knows how many months. That reason B had been the thing that kept me in high spirits, but now that I know I _did _have to go to school still, I am not looking forward to staying in Japan.

Currently, I'm in my grandfather's house, who has gone out for a bit with Dad just to chat. Upon their first meeting, both of them had hugged each other and started bawling. Which meant that Dad got his softie...ness (I don't know how else to explain it, okay?) from his dad, then. I should be surprised that my thought from before was trumped, but I can't bring myself to.

After having met many of my cousins from Dad's side of the family, and realizing how much of softies the lot of 'em are, I guess I'm not terribly surprised.

The life my mom and I must lead. Seriously.

Anyways, Mom just shrugs her shoulder at me in response to my begging (heartless bitch). "That's just how it is. I'm not going to have any kid of mine not go through school for months on end. You need to be on top of your studies, Dani."

"But I don't _want _to be on top of my studies, Mom!" Seriously. I'd rather be on top of something else. _Anything _else.

...okay, was it just me, or did that sound wrong? It wasn't just me? Yeah, I thought so.

"I don't care if you do. I am not going to have you be thirty and be living in my basement, or be some homeless person on the streets!" my mom tells me fiercely. "So we're going to go shopping for school supplies and you're going to be going to school next Monday!"

"You already registered me beforehand?" I ask, mouth dropping open.

She nods. "I got your grandfather to do it before we even came here. I knew if I told you before we came that you'd make a huger fuss of things, so I didn't tell you."

This is my mom, everyone: a heartless bitch.

Sure, I may be overexaggerating, but come on! I have to give up all my friends and stuff by coming here, and now I have to go to school _too_? I understand that my dad is going through a tough time, but what will be achieved by putting _me _through a tough time? My dad isn't a sadistic person, so it won't bring him pleasure! My mom, on the other hand...

Sigh. My life really does suck balls sometimes. Honestly.

Anywhom, a few days after this conversation happened, I find myself walking to school. Yes, _walking_, because Japan has different laws when it comes to driving so my mom or my dad can't drive me and my grandfather is in no condition to drive me and blah blah blah.

"Well, at least I'm getting some exercise," I say aloud to myself, trying to be upbeat.

It doesn't work, obviously, since I'm a lazy person by heart and hate walking or running or being athletic or leaving the house (unless it deals with food, then bitch I am running like I'm in the Olypmics). Not only that, but people within listening distance send me weird stares since I'm speaking in French.

Well, sorr-_ee_ for being born and bred in Montreal! You don't see me looking at _you_ weirdly when you speak in Japanese, now do you? (Then again, I haven't heard anyone talking in Japanese yet. Sense of foreshadowing! Dun dun _dun_.) Hmmph.

The whole walk to the school is spent like this; me muttering to myself in French, causing passerbys to stare at me weirdly if they hear me. I just ignore them, since even when I was in Montreal I got weird stares from people.

My friends always told me it was because talking to yourself is the first sign of madness or something stupid like that. How does that even make sense? I mean, _I _talk to myself, and I have talked to myself ever since I can — _ohhh_. They mean _I'm _mad by that. I just now got that. No wonder they had been laughing when I had been confused originally.

Those bitches. When I get back to Montreal, they are going to receive an ass-kicking from yours truly! (And by yours truly, I mean me.)

Continuing on with this story of angst and painfilled-ness (not really, I'm just being overdramatic), I walk towards the school, noticing many other students walking that way as well. However, the thing is, get this: _they are wearing uniforms_.

Sure, the male uniforms are fine. Sorta tacky, that meh. Whatever.

But the female uniforms? The FEMALE uniforms? Meaning, the one I will eventually have to wear, because they're for girls and I am, obviously, a girl? (Just because I don't have huge breasts doesn't mean I'm not a girl, okay. Seriously, all the male students in my class are assholes about it. Some of the girls too. Whatever happened to the female species sticking together?)

They are horrible, the female uniforms. They have ridiculous bowties and you have to wear a skirt. A SKIRT. Like the one that comes around your thighs and flips up, flashing your Hello Kitty underwear at any (perverted) person watching, whenever a wind of any kind blows your way.

Yes. I have had bad experiences with skirts. Do not remind me.

All I can say is I will never wear Hello Kitty underwear again. No matter how cute it may look. Because if anyone else but me sees them, they will point and laugh.

Somewhere (and by that I mean back 'home'), Mom knows perfectly fine what she has done to me and is laughing maniacally at my pitiful plight right now. Er, something like that, anyway.

"This is just great," I say to myself, shaking my head slowly as I look away from two girls whispering and giggling girlishly to each other. "I'm going to have to wear tights under my skirts now. Hooray! _Not_."

I hate tights. Tights are annoying. They always make the tiny hairs on my legs rise whenever I wear them. Stupid static electricity! How can anyone actually _like _wearing tights? Why couldn't there be stretchy material you could wear under skirts and stuff that _didn't _feel like wearing...like...like...electric pants or something! Bah.

Seriously. I haven't even gotten _inside _the school yet and I'm already dreading what is to come from this point on.

And so it begins.

* * *

Walking into class, I pick up many murmurs of conversation, yet they're too quiet and so tangled up in other conversations that I have no idea what is being said. Then again, even if I could've, it probably would be hard trying to decipher what they mean, everyone talking in Japanese and all.

Aish. I'll just have to get used to this, I guess. One way or another.

I walk up to the teacher with my class schedule in my hands and a small, awkward smile. Before I can even say anything, the teacher begins to talk.

"Ah, so you're the late transfer, are you? Welcome to your first class of the day, and good morning," says the teacher.

But here's the kicker:

He isn't talking in Japanese. He's talking in _English_ of all languages.

I blink rapidly, looking around, confused. I thought this is supposed to be _History _class, not English class! But the teacher knows me, and obviously he's supposed to know whether or not this is my first class, since all of my teachers must've been informed of a new student. Plus, there was "History" written clearly on the chalkboard —

Wait. It's written in _English_.

What the heck is going on? I am in Japan, right? Or this an all-English school? Is there even such thing as that in Japan?

"Are you alright?" asks the teacher, looking a bit concerned.

I turn my attention back at him, not sure if I should speak English or Japanese. Sighing to myself, I say in Japanese, "Yes, I'm alright." Or, at least, I _hope _that's what I said. Let's hope all those gruelling Japanese classes paid off.

The teacher stares me, confused. "...this isn't English class, I'm afraid. You must mean to talk in _Japanese_, right? Unless I was misinformed and you don't know any Japanese?"

I felt my left eye twitch. Um, hello, I _do _know how to speak Japanese, thanks! I just spoke it, you nimrod!

But still. Something was going on. Something I have no idea about. Maybe he's pulling a prank on me, a student who has just now come to Japan for the first time, despite being half-Japanese (and not knowing it, though this is a well-kept secret on my part).

Ugh. I know this may make the joke on me work and all, but here goes...

"Um, I do know Japanese," I say very awkwardly in English. Not because I'm bad at talking English, oh no. English is a stupid mandatory language to learn, since I came from Montreal and all, but I don't really like the English-speaking Canadians. They're all such...well, pricks, really. Bumbling around in a province that _clearly _speaks French, and yet they have the gall to speak in English to us.

Or maybe that's just my Montreal/French pride shining through. I got no idea.

Some people _can _be nice, I suppose, and some English-speaking Canadians are nice enough to know French, or at least _attempt_ it. But most of the people I have the displeasure giving directions to when lost can be real pricks, no lie.

The life us French-speaking Canadians must lead.

The teacher beams at me. "Wonderful! That was very fluent, too!" _No shit. I mean, I _did _learn English for Lord knows how many gruelling years. BUT IT IS NOT JAPANESE. What the hell, man?_

"Thank you," I mumble, shuffling on my feet and wondering when this stupid joke of his will just _end _and he'll start speaking in _actual _Japanese.

The teacher then turns to the class, who are still chatting it up with one another. "Class! Please, welcome Danielle Ito."

Okay, here are the thoughts going through my mind at that moment:

_He's still keeping up with the joke, talking in English and all. Isn't that too far for a joke now?_

_ Shit. The whole class must be in on it, then. Trying to make a fool of the non-Japanese (well, I'm actually half-Japanese, but you know what I mean) student._

_Why the hell is my first name before my last name? This is JAPAN._

_ Hey, his English is pretty good._

_ I'm hungry._

Fine. The last two are kind of irrelevant, but you get the idea! The joke is still going on, and eventually streamers are going to pop everywhere, a big sign written in Japanese will fall down from the ceiling, and it'll say, "Got you, Dani, you washed up half-Japanese hoe! Go back to where you came from!" and everyone will point and laugh and begin to talk to each other in gibberish Japanese while I curse my existence.

Unfortunately — _or fortunately? _— that hasn't happened yet. Everyone in the class has finally quietened down and are currently staring at me silently as I stare silently back.

"Uhm," I say, once more in English, "hello there."

Someone laughs. Another person coughs. Some people awkwardly, in monotone, say hello back. In English, of course.

Ugh, these fuckers. It's too early for stupid pranks like these.

Still, I go along with it, the awkward turtle that I am, and the teacher says, "Well, why don't you sit next to Yugi Moto?"

_I don't really have a choice, now do I?_

A kid puts up his hand, identifying himself as Yugi Moto, and the first thing I really notice about him is his _messed up _hair. It's, like, defying gravity, sticking up in some sort of geometric shape. A thick stripe of violet hair — _or is purple the right colour? Magenta, maybe? _— rims the black hair he has, and he has weird blonde bangs that generously part for him so people can actually see his chubby, baby-like face.

And holy _crap_, he's so tiny you can barely see him over his desk! Is he sitting on books just to be able to be seen or something? Where the hell is the nearest preschool? Because this boy is _not _supposed to be in high school.

Is this another part of the prank or something? If so, _holy crap _this has to be the biggest prank of my entire _life_. And I've pulled a lot of pranks, let me tell you.

I begin to stumble through an aisle of parted desks, towards the preschooler (I do not believe still that he is meant to be here) and stumble into the desk directly next to him, placing my bag down at my feet.

"Hi!" the boy cheerfully says to me, smiling...boyishly. (What? I'm not good with writing and stuff, okay?)

I blink, staring at him with narrowed eyes. His smile begins to get a bit strained.

"...hi," I carefull reply, eyes still narrowed. "Tell me, are you eight years old or something?"

He blushes pink. "N-No," he stammers adorably. "I _do _belong in this class. I'm fifteen." Holy crap, that would mean he's my age!

No. This is a lie. I cannot believe this. This kid really needs to get hit by puberty...and fast!

Outwardly, I do not display the horror going through my head. Instead, I send a strained, wobbly smile his way. "Oh, I see. My friends call me Dani, so you can call me Dani, too."

What can I say? Beggars can't be choosers. Well, then again, I'm not a beggar. Uh, 'new students can't be choosers'? Yeah. That's more like it.

"I'm Yugi, Dani!" he tells me, as if the teacher didn't _just _call his name.

I nod my head, deciding not to say this aloud and make him more embarrassed, as cute as he does look blushing. "That's...nice. Er, I mean, nice to meet you, Yugi."

Man, my people skills really are _shit_. Must be because I'm not exactly the type of person who cares about impressing people. I only worry about that during the first days of school, and that's when I first step into the school for the first time ever. Not when summer comes around and I have to go back to school. I'm just the same person then, already having a group of friends who know how horrible my personality is.

Which is the reason why I'm worrying about my horrible people skills right now.

"It's nice to meet you, too. We should definitely talk more, but the lesson is starting and you wouldn't want to be too behind on things, so we can talk later if you'd like!" he tells me, flashing another smile before turning to the front and beginning to pay attention.

I sneakily lean back and — well, there's no better way to put it. I stare blatantly at his ass to see if he's sitting on books to even be able to sit that high. He _is _pretty short.

The verdict is..._drum roll please_...no books in sight. His ass is firmly in his seat. Huh.

I shrug my shoulders, and am about to look away, towards the teacher, when I catch the eyes of someone just a few seats past Yugi.

He's rather tall, with brown hair which thankfully isn't completely defying gravity like Yugi's, and has piercing blue eyes. Blue eyes which are currently staring right at me. He has this weird sneer on his face that makes him look like there's some disgusting smell in the room, and by the way his eyes are narrowed at me, it's like that disgusting smell is coming from _me_ or something.

But it can't be, because I took a shower and am wearing clean clothes.

Which could only mean that he saw me checking out the behind of a classmate who looks like he's _eight_. Which indirectly means that I'm a pedophile or some sort of cougar or craddle robber or something.

Crap! I didn't expect someone to catch me staring at Yugi's ass! I didn't even mean it in a sexual way! I just wanted to see if he was sitting on books (which sounds pretty stupid of a reason, now that I think of it)! I quickly look away from the guy, sinking lower in my seat, and want to cover my face and run home and never come back to school again.

What a _great_ first impression. (Note. The. Sarcasm. Please.)

Gah. I just hope that other people didn't notice me staring at Yugi's ass or else Yugi may find out and think me to be a pedophile/cougar/craddle robber, too!

Yes. The rest of the History class_ is_ spent with me constantly thinking this. What can I say, I'm a person with paranoia issues.

(_"Just might be PARAnoid!"_ You know, like the Jonas Brothers song? No? You don't? Okay.)

* * *

Oh, and if you're wondering, everyone _still _don't speak in Japanese. Honestly, are Japanese people _that _seriously into their pranks? Or am I just 'lucky' to be the butt of this horrible, confusing, _stupid_ prank/joke/whatever the hell you wanna call it?

This _whatever it is_ better end quick is all I'm going to say. Uh, I mean, write?

It's lunch time, and people are _still _talking in English around me. Not even one person has talked in Japanese and I'm getting kind of creeped out by it, to be honest. What in tarnation's name is going on here?

If this is still some sort of joke, then it's gone on for too long and is starting to get old fast. It wasn't even funny the first time time around! Not for me, at least.

Right now, Yugi is sitting in front of one of his friends, Joey Wheeler, and teaching him to play some game called Duel Monsters. I very faintly remember the game, having heard that various people over the world were just _fascinated _by some card game that was the next best thing since sliced bread.

I, for one, didn't care much for Duel Monsters. It was just a card game, and I was a _teenager_. I had better things to do than collect cards. Like go on the internet, hang out with friends, eat food, be lazy...

Honestly, you could do _anything you want_ in your life and yet people everywhere were devoting their time to play a simple card game for _hours_, much like how Yugi and Joey are? Yawwwn.

And what's with the name "Joey Wheeler", anyway? That's an American name! Isn't Joey Japanese? Or maybe he has a Japanese mother and an American father or something? That's one way to explain his name, along with his _Brooklyn accent_.

Shaking my head free of the random thoughts that keep on occuring to me, I try to pay more attention to what is happening.

Yugi's two other friends, Tea Gardner and Tristan Taylor, currently are discussing what's going on between one another.

"...every card has an attack number and a defense number...first player to...life points...wins..." Tea's voice filtered in and out of my mind, and I was barely picking up what the hell was going on.

Why are there so many people around us anyways? I thought Duel Monsters was a famous game and all! Why not play amongst one another, or do something else that's productive rather than stand around and watch a card game you're not a part of? And why do Yugi and Tea have to explain Duel Monsters to Tristan and Joey? Shouldn't they already know of the game, since it's so "in" these days? Plus, the game's made by a Japanese man! You'd think there would be major advertising of the card game here in JAPAN. _Sheesh_.

But hey, what does a random fifteen year old girl like me know, right?

"...not good enough!" Yugi crows, placing down a card. I look up and see it to be some card of a dragon, which has attack and defense points that _definitely _trump the card Joey had placed down.

"WHAT?" Joey freaks out, gripping onto the table as if Yugi had actually attempted to _murder _him. "Thanks a lot! A card _that _powerful wipes me out!"

"Whoa, you _stink _at this game, Joey!" Tristan comments.

Yugi laughs in good sportsmanship, unlike Joey. "You did fine in this game, Joey! I just have better cards, that's all! See, my grandpa owns a game shop, and I get all my best cards from him." The words _sound _like bragging, but when someone as cute and cuddly as Yugi says them, it's difficult to perceive them as that way.

Joey slams his hands down on the table and gets up. "Your own game shop? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Uh, shouldn't you guys wait for school to end?" I remind him, raising an eyebrow.

Tristan only shrugs his shoulders. "It's lunch time," he tells me, as if I hadn't already noticed.

"But is lunch time long enough for you all to go to Yugi's house and come back?" I fire back.

"I...think so," Yugi says, scrunching up his nose, and all thoughts of the idea being stupid go out the window. He's too cute! (Curse my weakness towards cute things, especially people!) "Anyway, let's go! Maybe I can even get my grandpa to show us this rare card he's got!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Joey says happily, getting up along with Yugi and placing a hand on his shoulder. He'd probably place his arm _around _his shoulder, but Yugi's too short for Joey to be able to do that comfortably. The four grab their bags to head out, while I decide to simply retreat to my desk, all the while thinking of ways to pass the rest of the lunch time.

"Hey, Dani, aren't you coming?" Tea asks, turning my way.

"Huh?" I say, looking up at the four of them. "I thought _you_ guys were going, which meant that I was supposed to stay here."

"You're our friend too now, so of course you can come along!" Yugi tells me, smiling widely.

I raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? You guys don't mind me coming along?" Though I know they said that I was their new friend, sometimes people just say those sorts of things and don't mean it. Such is the way high school goes, really.

"Of course we don't!" Tea says, sounding shocked that I'd even think such a thing. "Friendship isn't about being only friends with people you've known for a long time; it's also about opening up your circle to others and welcoming them into it! After all, friendship is first formed by two or more people meeting and deciding to become new friends!"

I blink at her mini-speech, finding it to be a tad unnecessary, but it was said so..._passionately_. And, from how it sounded, truthfully. So maybe they didn't mind me tagging along, even though I don't really care much for a shop that sells cards. Maybe there'd be other types of games to look at for me? Even then, they're kind enough to allow me to come with so it'd be rude to decline just because I'm not interested in something they are interested in.

"Uh, okay," I say, getting up from my seat and grabbing my bag.

"Awesome!" Joey says, and the five of us make our way out of the classroom. I can't help but wonder if we can even do something like this: y'know, leaving school grounds during lunch time. However, if they don't see a problem then neither should I.

...I think.

* * *

**forlornwriter:** _So, I'm not a very knowledgable fangirl when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh and haven't watched the show in a while, but I have been watching a lot of the Abridged series for Yu-Gi-Oh and I do remember quite a few plots from the anime, so I decided to try my hand at a...I don't even know what this story is, actually. Basically, I just made an OC, threw her into the Yu-Gi-Oh storyline, and am currently writing various oneshots_ (which may sometimes come in more than one part)_ in which my OC will make fun of characters/lines/4Kids stupidity/etc. This will be very much like a crack/parody story at times, but there will bee times where it won't. If that even makes sense._

_Also, I am planning for slight romance to happen in this, either between Yugi/Yami and the OC or Joey and the OC — I'm still not sure which pairing, so do drop comments and vote, I suppose._

_I hope you enjoy these oneshots; most of them will be parts of the 4Kids dubbed episodes in which I'll squeeze my OC during parts, while other oneshots will just be pulled out from my brain where I'll — _gasp! _— try and add more depth to characters, especially my OC._

_This is just a practice story, to be honest. I'm not expecting much from this, and am just seeing what the feedback will be for this story. If there is too much negative feedback/constructive criticism given, I'll delete this and try and work to better it. If positive feedback is given and not a whole lot of editing in terms of constructive criticism, then I'll keep this up and add chapters as I go along. So do let me know what you think of the writing and my OC, please. It'll help me better my humour writing and writing in general!_

_Anywho, enough of this freakishly long A/N. I'm sure I'm just boring you all now with this stuff. I just felt as if I should get it out of the way if you all had any questions/concerns/etc._

_Do comment, favourite, alert — that sort of thing. Thank you for reading!_


	2. Joke's On You, Partie Deux

**CHAPITRE DEUX** | _JOKE'S ON YOU, PARTIE DEUX_

"So, Dani, where are you from?" Tea asks, intrigued, as we walk to Yugi's grandfather's game shop. Oh, and still in English, if you're wondering. I guess I'll just have to get used to this — but wait! Yugi's grandfather would no doubt speak in Japanese, right? If this is some sort of joke, anyway. Which is the only explanation, though it does seem kind of far-fetched.

"I'm from Canada. I was born in Montreal, though my dad is Japanese and my mom is British," I explain with a shrug. I like to think I'm rather diverse.

All of them let out noises of surprise in unison, which is a bit freaky, but I decide to overlook it.

"That's cool! So how's it like in Canada?" Yugi asks.

"Cold," I say, and then begin to laugh at my joke. I trail off kind of pathetically, my chuckles escaping me, when the others don't start to laugh with me.

"Uh...?" Joey says, looking deeply confused.

Oh_kay_. Looks like I'll have to explain in detail. "Canada's a cold continent," I inform them. "People joke about how people there live in igloos and stuff, though it's not —"

"You lived in an igloo in Canada?" Tristan asks, shocked.

"— true," I lamely finish before sighing softly and shaking my head. "No, Tristan, I didn't. It's just a joke people usually make about Canadians, that's all. Which is why I answered with 'cold' to Yugi's question." I feel like I'm talking to kids who have no idea of the world outside of their neighbourhood, but by the way what I just said is all just new information to them, maybe I am. Or maybe they haven't learnt much of Canada. Heck, maybe it's both.

"Oh, okay," Tristan says, nodding his head slowly. "Makes sense."

"I don't get it," Joey confesses, placing his hands in his pockets and scrunching his face up in confusion. "So, the joke is that Canada's always cold? And that everyone makes fun of people in Canada livin' in igloos?"

"Uh...well, I wouldn't say _always_ cold, but the winters are certainly cold since we live away from the equator," I attempt to explain further.

Joey nods his head. "Ohhh..." he mutters, though by the look on his face, I can tell that he obviously still doesn't get the joke.

That made no sense, though! The joke is so straight forward! Gosh. How dumb can you be to not understand?

"What did you say?" Joey snaps, glaring at me.

Crap. Did I just say my thoughts aloud for all to hear? I wince, about to apologize, but Yugi, Tea and Tristan begin to laugh loudly, and Joey turns to them and glares at them instead of me. Thank goodness for _that_.

"Stop laughin', guys!" Joey shouts at them, though that only makes them laugh more. I just continue to walk in step with them, not understanding why me accidentally speaking my thoughts about thinking Joey is on the..._special _side is so funny. Maybe it's a Japanese thing?

Finally, wanting to change the subject, and also just to bring attention to something I noticed a few minutes back, I ask, "Why is that guy from class following us?"

"Huh? Who?" Joey asks, turning towards me.

"There's a brunette boy, just a few meters back, trying to follow us," I tell them. "It's kind of obvious he is, since the whole time I've seen him, he's been staring right at us and trying to hide behind things. And he's wearing the school uniform, too."

Yugi laughs it off. "He probably just wants to buy some games from Gramps' store, is all!" he says, attempting to reassure me that the creep _isn't _stalking us. Yet I know for a fact he is. He was _staring straight _at us — well, more like glaring. Or maybe his face is just like that all the time.

Not only that, but he was the same guy in class who caught me staring at Yugi in what _seemed _like an inappropriate way. Which is totally wasn't. Since I didn't mean it in _that _way. On the other hand, the guy no doubt did. (Ugh, my life.)

"Guys —"

"Don't worry about it, Dani," Tea assures me with Joey and Tristan nodding in agreement to her words. I sigh heavily, shrugging my shoulders, and drop it.

Fine, whatever. But if that guy pulls out a knife or something, all I can say that it's every man for themselves. Well, that and I used to be in the track and field team back in Montreal. (Though that was a year or so back, though that makes no difference; I'm sure I'm still good at running! Probably.)

"So, how much further do we have to go to get to your house, Yugi?" Tea asks Yugi, breaking the moment's silence that had fallen over us.

Yugi looks around, face pinched in cute concentration. "Just a bit further," he tells her, though I can't help but think he isn't quite sure about it himself.

I blink. Let's just hope I'm wrong and he isn't kidding about that. However, I guess he isn't after all, because just about two seconds later, we're at the place. It's kind of obvious we are, since the shop _does _have posters and whatnot of games plastered all over the windows and a huge-ass sign that reads "GAME SHOP". In English.

I shake my head at this, disappointed. Is EVERYTHING going to be in English from this point on? Why couldn't it just be in French? Or, like it _should _be, in Japanese?

"Here we are!" Yugi says, walking a bit more quickly. (Thanks, Captain Obvious.) I easily manage to keep up, as do the others, since Yugi is...well, short. There's no other way to it. Like, he's way shorter than Tea and I, the two _girls_ in the group! Poor guy. And I thought _I _was short...

We finally make it to the game shop, and I walk behind Yugi and Joey, Tea and Tristan on both sides of me.

"Grandpa? I'm home!" Yugi yells as he walks in, not even bothering with explaining that he and his friends ditched school during lunch time. Huh. His grandfather must be _very _lenient, since he's just standing there at the counter, smiling.

Instead of yelling like my mom would've, Yugi's grandfather laughs. "And I see you've brought company." And would you look at that; _he's talking in English as well_.

Suffice to say, this can't be a joke anymore. Not _this _many people can be in on it. Definitely not the grandfather of one of my classmates. Then what the actual hell? _What_ is going on?

"Gramps, could you show my friends your awesome, super rare card?" I raise an eyebrow at this. Wow, why don't you add an 'ultra' to that 'awesome, super rare card', Yugi?

I seem to have missed what happened next, too busy thinking, as Yugi's grandfather seems to be humming in thought to Yugi's question, his hand on his chin while Yugi and Joey beg him to show him the card. Joey even bows, though that's part of their culture, is it not? (At least _some _part of the culture has shone through to me, what with all the talking and writing they do in English.)

Although, I thought Joey just recently learnt of Duel Monsters — why does he want to see the "awesome, super rare" card so bad? And it's just a card; why not Yugi just tell us what it is? Does he think we won't believe that his grandfather has such a card or something? There really was no need to ditch school for this, although we _have _come during lunch time.

Yugi's grandfather laughs, breaking me out of my thoughts. "How can I refuse?" he says cheerfully, reminding me a lot of Yugi.

"You kids are in for a treat," he tells us. "I don't take this card out too often." He brings out a small brown box that looks like its seen better days. "Ready? Here it is!" He pulls out a card from it, and on it is a weird-looking blue dragon with a blue eye. Its head is tilted to the side, so you can't see the other eye, and it appears to be roaring. Or just opening its mouth. _Lame._ Why isn't it breathing fire or something?

"The Blue Eyes White Dragon," Yugi's grandfather says, and while the others are so riveted by his speech, I end up looking around the store (I _am _still listening to what's he's saying, okay? I'm not _that _rude), staring at the video games there.

Ooh, there are games here for PlayStation 3, the only PlayStation I own! Score! I wonder if I'll be able to get a discount, being Yugi's friend, albeit not for a long amount of time.

"...I never let it out of my hands!" Yugi's grandfather declares as I walk over to another counter and peer at the games in there in interest. Huh. The words on them are in English, too. Although, I'm really not all that surprised anymore.

I turn back towards them just in time to see Yugi's grandfather gasp loudly since Tristan was currently holding one of his "prized possessions" (which happens to be a card from a card game, mind you), and ripping it out of his hand. I smirk. Never lets it out of his hands, huh?

"Naw, I didn't mean that card. I mean show me some other cool cards to get me started!" I hear Joey tell Yugi's grandfather, leaning his arms against the counter. Well, looks like I ended up missing even _more _of the conversation they're having.

I sigh and shuffle close to Tristan. Might as well _try _and be a part of the conversation going on. I don't want them to think me overly rude, as I'm not trying to be.

And then, suddenly, the door to the shop opens from behind us.

"Hello, can I help you?" Yugi's grandfather asks, and all of us turn our heads to see who it is.

"If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me," says the snotty newcomer, holding a large briefcase which seemed to be made out of steel or some kind of metal — and then I realize who it is. It's that stalker guy, who had been following us! I almost forgot about him.

"Seto Kaiba!" Yugi says, shocked.

"Kaiba?" Joey repeats uselessly.

"Doesn't he have a big, fancy company to run? What's he doing down here?" Tristan says, and a bit too loudly to be called whispering. I sigh. This Seto Kaiba guy must've heard him, _that's _how loud he was.

"Not that it's any of your business"—ah, so he's the rude, asshole type of guy—"but I came to see the card." 'The card'? How did he even find out about the Blue Eyes White Dragon card? Had he been eavesdropping on us at school and just randomly decided to follow us for some measly card?

The people I keep on meeting here in Japan. Don't teenagers here have a life _outside _of a card game? I'm going to be real surprised if I do find a teenager here who does.

"Hey," Joey says, now having stopped leaning on the counter, and stepped towards the boy, "are you into Duel Monsters, too? This is perfect!" I stare at Joey in confusion. _'Perfect_? Didn't he notice how rude this guy was being? "Maybe we can all duel together sometime!" Oh, you can count me out. Not only do I have no idea how to play — despite Tea's explanation, which I didn't even fully hear — I _certainly _don't want to play with _this _bozo.

"Me? Duel you? I would have more of a challenge playing Solitaire," the boy says, stepping further into the store.

I frown at his 'holier than thou' persona. "I'll have you know that playing Solitaire can be pretty difficult!" I tell him, huffing as I cross my arms over my chest. And it _is_! Whenever I play that stupid game on my laptop, I almost always end up having to start over out of having no more moves left to make. It's annoying!

He sneers at me. "Of course it'd be, for someone like _you_," he says scathingly.

My eyes widen in surprise, my arms immediately falling back to my sides. "_Excuse _me?" What the hell did I ever do to the guy for him to speak to me in that way, or to Joey for that matter? Or does he just have a stick lodged painfully up his ass while being on his man period when he talks to people all the time?

Kaiba ignores me, however.

"What?" Joey says, surprised, bringing attention to himself once more. Apparently he caught up to the fact that Kaiba had just _insulted him_. Then again, who cares what this Seto Kaiba person thinks? He's obnoxious, and obviously thinks way too highly of himself —

"I am the number one ranked duelist in the country and the favourite to win the Duel Monsters Championship!" See, what'd I say? But really — there is a _championship _for a card game? What the hell. "Heh. You wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me."

Finally, Joey puts his act together by glaring his way and clenching a hand into a fist. "Ooh, I'm shaking," he says sarcastically. "Maybe we should settle this with our fists instead of cards."

As if Joey had already punched Kaiba or something, Yugi sprints in front of Joey, holding his hands out. "Whoa, take it easy, Joey!" he says.

"But Yugi, Kaiba's asking for it!" Joey insists.

_Well, maybe if you hadn't been so friendly to him, he wouldn't have_, I can't help think to myself. Surely Joey and Kaiba both have been at school a lot; didn't Joey know how Kaiba usually was towards people? Kaiba doesn't exactly strike me as the type of person who's friendly to people at school, considering how rude he is to us. _Honestly._

"Now does this shop have any worthwhile cards or not?" Kaiba asks, smirking.

I glare at him with his pompous attitude. Part of me very much wants to tell him that the shop doesn't have any cards for the likes of him, but it isn't exactly my shop, now is it? So I try my best to keep my mouth shut and instead cross my arms once more, attempting to quell my rage.

I can already tell that, if Kaiba and I ever cross paths again, it will _not _be pretty. I'm not exactly the type of person who hides my dislike towards people if they're obnoxious, rude and horribly self-centered — especially if they have a stick up their ass.

Weirdly enough, Kaiba looks surprised all of a sudden and pushes past Joey, Yugi and I, slamming his hands on the counter and leaning so close to the box on the counter that Yugi's grandfather leans away a bit. Or maybe that was just from shock.

"Can it be?" Kaiba gasps, staring down at the open box where the "awesome, super rare" Duel Monsters card was placed. "A Blue Eyes White Dragon, in a dump like this?"

_You'd think one would keep comments like that to themself..._

My musings are cut short, however, when Yugi's grandfather closes the box and slides it closer to himself. "Well, enough window-shopping. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

I can't stop my grin. _Whoot! You go, Yugi's grandfather!_

Kaiba lets out a creepy snarl before placing his case onto the counter. Yugi's grandfather immediately retreats back with a yell.

My grin immediately gets wiped off of my case. _Or maybe I thought too soon._

Kaiba, having opened his case, turns it Yugi's grandfather's way, though I've already seen the contents. By the way Yugi's grandfather gasps, eyes wide, I know I'm not mistaken.

It's a bunch of random cards. And, most likely all of them are to be used for the Duel Monsters game. Ooh, the temptation. (Note the sarcasm. I think coming to Japan just made me even more sarcastic than I usually am, which certainly is _not _a good thing.)

Yugi, Joey, and Tea peer around to see the contents and let out gasps of surprise with a few words of surprise thrown in there, too. Tristan, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care much. I swear that he is slowly becoming my best friend.

"Ah, _nice_," Yugi's grandfather comments, before quickly adding, "but no thanks."

All of us look at him in surprise there. I think Yugi and Joey look ready to wet themselves because of the massive amount of cards the old man just declined. I'm pretty shocked myself, though. It'd be better for business for sell those cards rather than just keeping a card — no matter how rare it may be — which you intend on never selling, right? I mean, it's just a card! Not some million dollar lottery ticket or priceless family heirloom! _Sheesh_.

"Ugh. Fine," Kaiba says, sounding annoyed yet determined. "Maybe you won't trade, but maybe you'll sell it. Name your price. I can pay anything you say."

My eyes widen in shock at this. Now _I'm _ready to wet myself. "How about a thousand million dollars?" I can't help ask the boy, wondering what he'll say. Unfortunately, I'm ignored.

"I'm sure you could," says Yugi's grandfather, "but this card means more to me than _anything _you could offer."

I seriously want to grab him by the arms and shake him crazily. Did he know what he was refusing? A lot of money, that's what! All for some measly card! And why the hell is Kaiba so adamant about getting one apparently rare card? WHY DO THESE PEOPLE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT A CHILDREN'S CARD GAME?

"Not because of its power, not because it's so rare, but because of what is means to me," Yugi's grandfather continued, as if to answer my question. However, currently, I want to just faint. How can a card mean so much to someone? A _CARD_, from a _CHILDREN'S CARD GAME_. "This card was given to me by a _dear _friend, and so I treasure this card as I do that friend. So parting with it is completely out of the question!"

Please. If any of my friends back in Canada gave me some random game card and someone was willing to pay big bucks for it, I'd give it to them in a heartbeat! I'm sure my friends would understand why I did it!

Or maybe I'm just an inconsiderate friend. Who knows?

"You'd feel the same even if it was a common card, right, Grandpa?" Yugi says, smiling up at his grandfather.

"Exactly. You see, this precious card has bonded with my heart." How someone, especially someone who is not a five year old, can bond with a card from a card game, I'll never know.

"Fine," Kaiba snaps suddenly, bringing me out of my daydream of buying a Porsche with the daydream money daydream Kaiba would give me. Or maybe I should buy a Ferrari. Ooh, or a Lamborghini! "I've heard enough of your nonsense! Senile old fool!" And so Kaiba closes his briefcase and stalks out of the game shop before getting into a car I just now noticed parked outside. (Where the hell did that car even come from?)

"That was kind of foreboding," I murmur to the others, breaking the silence. "You reckon he'll do something to take the card, even though your grandfather said no to him already, Yugi?" For some reason, I wouldn't put it past that guy. He did seem pretty pissed as he left.

"No, of course not," Yugi reassures me, voice sure and firm.

* * *

So, Kaiba ended up somehow getting Yugi's grandfather to come over to his office in his big, hotshot company building. And, apparently, he has "done something" to him, too.

Looks like I was right after all. Still, now isn't a time to be gloating, I suppose, considering the fact that Yugi's grandfather may be hurt.

Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan and I (what a mouthful) end up having to run at breakneck pace to Kaiba's company building. Which they just somehow _just happened_ to know the address to. They know where their classmate works yet they know nothing about their classmate's personality and ways? How surprising.

Also, what I just don't understand is why Yugi didn't just call the cops on Kaiba. Yugi had told me that there was no time for that before running out of the shop. And the rest of us had no other option than to follow. Well, we _did_ have the option to just sit around and not follow him, but I don't think any of the others were willing to do that. (I felt the same, even though I'd rather sit down than run around looking for some pompous asshole.)

"Shouldn't we take the stairs? How do we even know which floor Kaiba's office is located?" I ask between deep puffs of air as we all enter the elevator.

"There's no time 'ta talk about that, Dani!" Joey tells me.

I blink. We're in an elevator, and it's going kind of slowly. How is there no time to talk? I decide to ignore this and instead just stare over at Yugi to see how he's doing. Well, he looks like he's about the keel over and die. That might just be from trying to run and catch up to us, being rather short and all. I almost asked him if he wanted me to carry him, but that would be a bit too weird of a thing to ask someone who met just two days back, or even if you knew them well enough, so I hadn't.

And, man, being in an elevator in such a tense silence sure is awkward...

Can't this thing go any faster? No? Okay.

* * *

"Kaiba, you sleaze, what have you done to him?" Joey barks after Yugi's grandfather went...unconscious or something.

You see, Diary, after having finally gone to Kaiba's office, we saw Yugi's grandfather lying face down on the floor, having lost to Kaiba in a card game. (Yes, it does sound rather ridiculous, being phrased like that. Don't remind me.)

And then, to make things worse, Kaiba appeared out of some door looking like his usual asshole self. Then he went ahead and started gloating about the fact that he beat an old man at a card game.

All I can really think at the moment is: _Dude, Japanese people sure can be weird__._

"We had a duel, that's all. With each of us putting up our most valuable card as the prize," Kaiba answers Joey with a lazy smirk before shrugging. "But I guess playing against a champion like myself was just too much stimulation for the old fool."

I blink, confused. "That makes absolutely no sense. It doesn't at all explain why Yugi's grandfather's unconscious if all the two of you did was play a card game!" I say. "Too much stimulation", my _ass_. Surely Yugi's grandfather isn't so weakened just because he participated in a card game!

Also, why the hell didn't Kaiba, as rude as it may sound, simply beat up Yugi's grandfather and forcefully take the card from him? That'd be easier than playing a dumb card game to get the Blue Eyes White Dragon!

Well, all I can say is that it is good thing that Yugi decided not to call the police. After all, explaining that they had to arrest Seto Kaiba because he beat an old man in a card game and therefore rendered him unconscious and weak wouldn't be..._ideal_. Yeah, let's just put it like that.

The short silence is finally broken by Tea, who points a finger rather dramatically at Kaiba. "Kaiba!" she shouts angrily, and _holy crap _does she sound scary. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Kaiba doesn't seemed as creeped out by her scariness as I am, instead pulling out a card from his pocket and showing it to us in satisfaction. "It was fair. And look — the sweet prize I won." He then grasps the Blue Eyes White Dragon card with both hands before ripping it in half.

All of us gasp from shock — even Yugi's grandfather, who I originally thought to have gone unconscious. Maybe it would've been better if he had; seeing something he treasured so much to be ripped apart must've been heart-wrenching.

"Grandpa's most treasured card!" Yugi says. I turn to stare at his horror-filled face, immediately feeling sorry for him.

Kaiba drops the pieces onto the floor. "Yes, the Blue Eyes White Dragon _is _a rare and powerful card. And this one will never be used against me."

Confused beyond compare, I say, "So...wait a second here. You wanted to trade a bajillion cards or pay a butt-load of money for a card you were just going to rip into pieces so nobody would beat you in _a card game_?" The idea was flabbergasting. Not only that but extremely stupid.

"Yes," Kaiba snaps, glaring over at me.

"My Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Yugi's grandfather yells suddenly, hand outstretched and reaction _severely _delayed. "My treasure!" And then he goes back to shivering in what appears to be pain. To tell you the truth, it _is_ kind of sad to see a poor old man so hurt, even if it _is _for some random card. It meant a lot to him, no doubt, and to see it to torn and throw aside as if worthless..._ouch_. Poor guy.

"Grandpa, hold on!" Yugi says in distress.

I decide to go forward towards where Yugi is crouched, next to his grandfather, wondering why the others didn't. Pressing my fingers to his neck — _yes, I realize that he only played a card game, but he is in _pain_ because of it, which already doesn't make sense! _— I make sure that his pulse is there. It's kind of sluggish, but thankfully it's there.

Meanwhile, Yugi glares up at Kaiba with tears in his eyes. "How could you do such a thing?" he says with so much venom that I'm shocked. I never thought Yugi had it in him.

With a shaking hand, Yugi's grandfather brings out a deck of cards from seemingly nowhere. He offers them to Yugi.

"Yugi, here! Take this," he whispers hoarsely.

"Huh?" Yugi blinks, thrown-off. "Grandpa..." He places a hand on his shoulder.

"I built this deck," he gasps, "I put my _soul _in these cards, and I taught you everything I know, Yugi. Take them." And as he continues with his speech that probably is very touching, I can't help but think that this is all over some random card and some random card game.

Doesn't anyone else find this kind of weird? No one except me? _Really_?

Not only that, it's kind of awkward to crouch down next to Yugi, witnessing the moment from this up-close. I probably should've known better and stayed back with Tea, Joey and Tristan. Nice one, Dani. Now you'll have to deal with this awkwardness for a few seconds. Or however long the heart-warming, grandfather-grandson moment lasts.

"Sounds like an excuse," Kaiba speaks up suddenly, making all eyes go on him and finally stop the grandfather-grandson moment (thank goodness for that. Finally Kaiba does something good for once). "Your friends can care for your grandfather while you and I duel."

You know, what's up with saying "duel" anyway? What, is there something emasculating about saying "while you and I play Duel Monsters" or "while you and I play a card game"? _Boys_.

"Unless you're afraid," Kaiba continues, voice strong and challenging.

"Take him, Yugi!" Joey speaks up.

Yugi lets out a voice of shock and turns back towards Tea, Joey and Tristan, as if having forgotten they were even there.

"We can take care of your grandpa while you take care of creepy Kaiba. Teach that rich, spoiled brat what a real duel's all about."

I sigh to myself. Is there _anything _really masculine about playing a card game and 'teaching someone' what a 'real card game' is all about? Not in my mind it isn't. But hey, maybe I'm in the wrong here. Perhaps the Japanese take these sorts of things more seriously?

"For your grandpa, Yugi!" Tea says, agreeing with Joey.

"...I don't know," Yugi confesses, unsure of facing against Kaiba.

"Trust me," Joey continues, "you're the best player I've ever seen and you've got the Millennium Puzzle. You can do this, Yugi! I _know _you can." Huh? Millennium Puzzle? What the heck is Joey talking about?

"We all do," Tea says.

With these words, Yugi magically gains confidence, and he nods his head at them with a small, but sure hum of approval. He turns to his grandfather and takes his deck of cards, deciding that he'll play a card game with Kaiba (now that I think about it, why are we all referring to him by his last name anyway? Beats me).

"Everyone, put your hands together, and I'll mark us with a special sign," says Tea with a marker in her hand (where did she get that?). Immediately, Tea, Joey, Tristan and Yugi place their hands palm-down together, fingers barely touching.

I watch them in confusion, and they turn towards me, as if waiting for something.

"Well? Put your hand in, Dani!" Joey insists, impatient.

"But...what are you guys even doing?" And I thought Tea said "everyone". Doesn't that mean that Yugi's grandfather should also —

Before I can continue with my thoughts, Joey tugs me up from my crouched position near Yugi's grandfather. He then grabs my hand with his free one and places it between his and Yugi's.

Quickly, Tea uses her black marker on the back of our hands and makes...a smiley face. I feel slapping my hand on my forehead at the stupidity of it all. This is Tea's "special sign" that she talked of? This makes me feel more childish than I actually am.

All of us retract our hands, Joey and Tristan staring weirdly at their hands. I do the same with my own, knowing I shouldn't have allowed Joey to place my hand in their weird little hand circle.

"What gives, Tea?" Joey asks her, eyes still on his hand.

Tea holds up the back of her hand for all of us to see. "It's a symbol of our friendship, so when Yugi's dueling, no matter how tough it gets, he'll know that he's not alone. We're all right there with him!"

Yugi nods his head at her words, looking determined and happy.

"Couldn't you have chosen a different 'symbol', though? A smiley face is...I don't even know what to say. Maybe an 'F' or something?" I ramble, continuing to stare down at my hand.

"Gotta agree with Dani there, Tea," Joey mumbles.

"And where are we all going anyway? Isn't the game going to be played right here?" I ask them.

Tea, Joey and Tristan turn to me with 'duh' looks on their faces.

"We need to get Yugi's grandpa to the hospital, Dani!" Tea says, looking over at Yugi's grandfather with worry. "There isn't a moment to lose!"

"Whatever you say," I mutter, about to pull out my cellphone and call for 911 when I remember that this is _Japan_, not Canada. Chuckling awkwardly to myself under my breath, I decide to keep my cellphone in the pocket of my uniform jacket, which I donned just today (whoop-de-doo). It's probably best if I let one of the others call for that ambulance. One that we all apparently have to go to with Yugi's grandfather, because they _don't _have a stretcher and it takes four healthy boys and girls to pick up an old man.

* * *

It's when all four of us are outside with the ambulance that Tea turns to Joey and I and says, "Joey and Dani, Tristan and I will take Yugi's grandfather to the hospital. The two of you, go back in there and cheer Yugi on!"

Joey looks taken aback before nodding his head in determination and clenching his fist. "You got it! Take good care of Yugi's grandpa!"

I find myself unable to keep my mouth shut at this point. "If two of us were gonna go back into the building to watch Yugi and Kaiba's card game match, then why did all of us come out here in the first place?" I ask Tea, only for Joey to grab me by the arm and haul me towards the building once more.

Suffice to say, I have no idea what the hell is going on, between Yugi's grandfather somehow having to go to the hospital because he lost a card game and Yugi and Kaiba playing a card game just so Kaiba could...I don't even know why Kaiba challenged Yugi, now that I think about it.

And why did Yugi even say yes? Just because Kaiba implied that he was a coward? Because Tea, Joey and his grandfather told him to? (Talk about peer pressure.)

Nothing made sense to me, to be quite honest, but as more time passed, I think I was realizing that this is how things work in Domino City.

* * *

**forlornwriter:**_ Phew. Finally finished up this chapter! It was about eleven pages, just as the last chapter, which I can't help but be proud of. Anywhom, the last part for the first episode will be written eventually. I'm thinking of skipping a few episodes that I can't make fun of properly or ones that aren't too needed, because if I write for all episodes and have three parts for them all, obviously this story will be a lot of chapters. Not only that, but I'll have to add my own original chapters as well, which will only make this story have more chapters. So, yes. Not all episodes will come into play; not the overly important ones._

_Also, just to add, if you check the story summary, there is no longer "Joey/OC" written there. I think about two people commented with Yugi/OC/Yami, plus I had quite some ideas for the pairing Yugi/Dani/Yami than Joey/Dani, which is why I went with Yugi/OC/Yami. There most likely won't be tons of romance, plus Joey and Dani will still have interactions despite the fact that they aren't going to be together romantically, so don't worry too much._

_This probably had a few mistakes, considering the fact that I was too wiped from writing so much in such a short period of time than is usual for me. I edited this, but I'm sure that some of the mistakes I missed. I'll be sure to come back and properly edit this, so if you find mistakes, do ignore or even send me a comment and point 'em out. Thank you either way._

_Speaking of thanks, thank you goes out to everyone who reviewed/voted, alerted and favourited — you guys rock!_

_To _**Airheadninja**_: Thank you so much for pointing out that mistake of mine — I'll be sure not to repeat it again. I was originally going to make this third person when I realized it'd be best for it to be in first person instead. Also, while I enjoy reading stories in which the girl comes from an alternate universe or something along those lines, I didn't really want to do the same for this story, which is why I decided to try something slightly different._

_To _**Aqua girl 007**_: yes, I am Canadian, but the real reason I made my character Canadian is because I noticed not many OCs are in the Yu-Gi-Oh 'verse are Canadian. Plus, since I am from Canada, I use British English, so it'd be weird for me to write British English when the OC who's point of view this is in is actually an American or from a different nationality._

_Now, enough of this hideously long A/N (_again_). Bye for now, and do review, alert, and favourite if you'd like!_


	3. Joke's On You, Partie Trois

**CHAPITRE TROIS** |_ JOKE'S ON YOU, PARTIE TROIS_

Joey and I wait as the elevator climbs higher and higher, cheesy elevator music the only thing filling the silence between us, considering the fact that we don't have anything to say to each other. I clear my throat awkwardly, shifting nervously on both feet, and can't help but take out my phone to glance at the time.

"Do you think we'll be late for class?" I ask Joey, worried. I really can't miss out on school; mom would for _sure_ have my head on a platter if she found out about it.

"There's no time to worry about that, Dani!" Joey says, turning to me with wide eyes, shocked I would ever think of something like my education over watching two people I just met play a card game. "Yugi's in trouble!"

"Uh...he's _not_ in trouble, though? He's just playing a card game."

"For his _grandpa_!" he argues passionately.

"Yeah, yeah, that's great and all, but I don't think a card game will really help Yugi's grandpa recover," I inform him. He does know that, right?

"Well Kaiba deserves to be taught a lesson!" Joey says, growling under his breath as he hits his fist against his open palm.

While I agree wholeheartedly with his words, for some reason, I just can't imagine that a _card game_ will really be "teaching him a lesson". Shouldn't we beat him up or something? Threaten him somehow? Do something _actual_ high schoolers would do, like perhaps spread a nasty rumour about him? That would probably be better and actually teach the jerk a lesson.

I open my mouth to tell Joey just this when the elevator dings and the doors slowly open. Joey runs out before they can even fully open, managing to carefully squeeze through considering the fact that he's so lanky. I, being more plump (but _not_ fat, okay? I'm not! Really!), decide to wait, and enter the room when the elevator doors open wide enough, glancing around. Kaiba and Yugi are nowhere to be seen, but Joey simply enters a random room anyway as if knowing exactly where they are. Has he been here before or something?

Sighing to myself, I go ahead and follow the blonde anyway. The door, weirdly enough, slides open for me the moment I walk over to it like some sort of sliding doors at a grocery store. It's cool, I must admit, but is it _necessary_ for Kaiba to waste money on stuff like this? He could very easily use the money he has for something like curing cancer, maybe even saving the rainforests, but _no_. Card games and sliding doors are top priority, apparently.

"Whatever," I say aloud before stepping into the room, immediately widening my eyes at what I see. The room is large and strangely a deep red colour, perhaps maroon. There is a weird grid-like thing covering the floor, and on two large crane-like machines, facing one another, stand Kaiba and Yugi.

The most shocking thing, though, would be two _creatures_ standing on the floor. One of them looks to be some sort of green cyclops with abs and some orange dragon, which was spewing fire that hit the cyclops and created a large explosion. This probably sounds kind of mean, but I couldn't help but snicker to myself as Kaiba tried to cover his face from the aftermath of it.

From the looks of it, however, nothing is damaged. No soot or smoke or any odour is left behind. What are they, then? Some sort of advanced holograms?

"_Alright!_ Go Yugi!" Joey shouts very much in a cheerleader fashion, even adding some sort of fist-pump.

"Is this _seriously_ how Duel Masters is played?" I ask him as I approach him.

Joey doesn't even bother turning to me as he says, "Monsters."

"What?"

"Duel _Monsters_."

"Masters, monsters, same thing," I mutter with a roll of my eyes. "So? Is it actually...possible?" Okay, so maybe my words don't make sense since the whole duel thing _is_ happening in front of me — obviously it's possible. But it shouldn't be! I haven't heard of technology like this before!

Then again, this is the Japanese we're talking of. They could make anything happen with those smart minds of theirs! Or so us North Americans like to stereotypically believe.

"Uh, no. All I've ever played is the actual game involving this...board thing that you put cards on," Joey oh-so-eloquently explains. "This is...unbelievable! I wanna play Duel Monsters on this thing."

"I never thought I'd say this but I kind of want to play Duel Monsters now too." What can I say? It looks pretty cool and all. Much better than how Yugi and Joey play the game at school.

_Oh crap. I almost forgot about school again _—

My thoughts are interrupted by some sort of weird laughing. I look up to see _a clown_ hovering over the damn gaming field (I have no idea what to call it, so I'll call it what I want). A _clown_. CLOWN.

Oh, Diary, did I mention I hate clowns? Like, a lot? Like, I hate them so much I am really, really, _deathly_ afraid of them? If I didn't then you sure do know my hatred of them now.

"Of course this would happen when I decide to come," I mutter to myself angrily, doing my best to surreptitiously step closer to Joey. He doesn't even notice, too busy watching the "duel". Good. This means that I can sacrifice him if need be should the clown try and come after me.

"— but that card has hardly any attack points!" Whoa, whoa, _whoa_. Hold up. Had that been seriously _Yugi_ talking? How did his voice get so...deep? Did he suddenly get sucker punched in the throat by puberty or something? I squint up to see him standing on the large crane-like machine. He sure does look taller than usual from here. Must be because he's so high up.

"True, your Winged Dragon's attack is fourteen hundred while my Dark Clown's is only six hundred, but if I combined it with _this card_..." Kaiba trails off, smirking in a rather conniving fashion.

Yugi gasps. "A magic card," he says. (How I can hear them perfectly fine from where I'm standing, I'll never know.)

"'Magic card'? Seriously? That sounds really childish. Couldn't they categorize it under a different name?" I can't help but ask no one. Joey shushes me, riveted still by the duel or whatever. I pout and cross my arms. Fine. I _won't_ say anything that makes absolute sense if _his majesty_ so wishes it. Meanie.

I decide to instead watch the game with disinterested eyes, cringing as the clown laughs maniacally as a hole sprouts from underneath it, and soon is engulfed with electricity. Thank God. Maybe it'll get electrocuted to death or something, the creepy bastard.

But, of course, it doesn't. Instead, it's attack points — or so I think Kaiba called it — is increased somehow. How much the attack points are now, I have no idea, but by the way Yugi looks tense all of a sudden, it probably packs a punch great enough for him to worry about his dragon.

"— attack with Dark Light!"

_'Dark Light'? Oxymoron much?_ I comment dryly to myself as the clown hurls some sort of dark ball fused with electricity towards the dragon. It's a direct hit, and strangely the dragon spins rather comically out of existence. I can't help but snort at the sight, causing Joey to turn and glare at me before going back to watching.

I glance up at where the life points (that's what they're called right? Damn, I should've listened properly to Tea's speech after all) for both Kaiba and Yugi are displayed. Yugi, who had been in the lead, has dropped down. Kaiba, unfortunately, is now leading.

I look back towards the game just in time to see some random face down card that looked as if it belonged to Yugi's be blasted into oblivion, much like the dragon, by the clown's Dark Light move.

Joey, more into spectating than ever, slams his fists down at the hard-looking block barring us from entering the gaming field. Ouch. "Hang in there, Yugi!" he shouts crazily.

Kaiba uses this slight pause in the game to laugh and, of course, trash talk. I roll my eyes as I listen to his stupid words, though honestly they are going in one ear and out the other. I _swear_ that he only talks this much because of the fact that he likes the sound of his own voice.

I do, however, catch his last sentence. "Your deck is as weak and feeble as your grandfather."

_Oh crap. That was actually a pretty good line._ I don't like him, though, so I quell the urge to yell "burn!" I'm pretty sure Joey and Yugi wouldn't appreciate it, and there would go the meagre friendship I've recently started with the four teens, right out the metaphorical window.

Arms still crossed, I continue to listen to their little trash talk session, as it's time for Yugi to add in some comments of his own. They're not too shabby, though a bit overdramatic in my opinion. But damn, there is _passion_ in that newly-acquired deep voice of his.

"And my faith rewards me with Gaia the Fierce Knight, with the destructive power of three hundred!" Yugi ends loudly, slapping down the card he grabbed from the top of his deck. A knight or whatever on a _purple horse_ suddenly appears, lance aimed low but trained on Kaiba's clown (which sounds _really_ weird). It strikes the clown, blasting the disgusting thing back, and creates ripples that suck in the clown and take him off of the gaming field.

"Thank God for that," I can't help but whisper to myself, finally easing out of the defensive stance I had rather subconsciously taken behind Joey. That clown was seriously creeping me out. The blonde teen is too busy cheering Yugi's name to notice any of this, of course.

Yugi victoriously crosses his arms, smirking. "Alright, Kaiba. Your move," he says almost cockily, and I really hadn't thought he had it in him. He's such a..._goody-two-shoes_. He sure proved me wrong, however.

"_Ha_. This will be over sooner than you think," Kaiba says snarkily, dramatically grabbing a card from his own deck and bringing it eye-level. His eyes narrow. "I call on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"Huh? No way!" Yugi exclaims, leaning back in surprise.

"Impossible!" Joey shouts, fist clenched.

"Wait what," I monotonously say, confused. Where the hell did he get _that_ card from? Didn't he rip it up?

"We watched Kaiba cut that hard in half!" Joey continues as if having read my mind, turning towards me with a confused expression before turning back to the dragon that continues to materialize itself on the field.

"Surprised your grandfather isn't the only one to possess a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" the teenage millionaire (billionaire?) goads.

Without any instruction, the dragon opens its large mouth and a blue energy ball emerges from within, blasting away the poor knight and its horse that whines its last neigh (yeah, that sounded much more dramatic and stuff in my head than on paper — my bad).

"Wait a second...so Kaiba was so desperate to acquire a card _he already owned_?" I couldn't help but say, watching Yugi as he covered his face with his arm, the intense light no doubt harming his eyes. "What a nut."

"Yeah, you could say that again," Joey agrees.

"Faith or no faith, you _will _fall before my superior monsters, Yugi. _Power_ is what this game is all about, you fool. Faith is for losers like your pathetic grandfather," Kaiba continues with his little spiel, completely disregarding our commentary. How harsh. He then goes on to cockily belittle Yugi's deck, something about how amazing his card is while Yugi doesn't have cards that match his and blah blah _blah_.

Shit gets real, however, when he holds up another card. "So what hope do you have against _two_?"

"_What_," I deadpan as another Blue-Eyes White Dragon is "summoned" to the field. "If you can have the same card in your deck, why the hell did Kaiba rip Yugi's grandfather's card instead of adding it to his pathetic little collection?"

Surprisingly, Kaiba glances over at me and sneers, no doubt having heard me. I must not be worth more than that in his eyes, though, considering the fact that he goes back right on back to glaring at Yugi. Too bad: I kind of wanted to see a more verbal reaction. Or maybe an _explanation_ as to why he's such an idiot. But, of course, Kaiba probably has no idea as to why either.

"I won't give up," Yugi suddenly speaks up, almost as if he's talking to himself. "Grandpa's counting on me!" He picks up another card, gasping loudly as he brings it up towards his face.

"Swords of Revealing Light," he proclaims clearly, "stops all the monsters remaining on the field for _three turns_." Swords immediately manifest above Kaiba's dragons and plunge down as if to trap the beasts.

Huh. Convenient.

"How desperate," Kaiba scoffs. "What good could a three-turn delay possibly do you?"

Yugi doesn't comment, instead glancing down at his cards. He obviously doesn't know himself. Randomly, his head snaps to the left, as if he's looking at something behind him. Although, there _isn't_ anything there. He's all alone on that podium crane (or so I have graciously dubbed it).

I tilt my head to the side, continuing to watch as Yugi simply stands there, staring at some spot behind his shoulder, for what feels like minutes. Joey doesn't seem surprised, I notice, but Kaiba looks rather impatient, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

Finally, Kaiba's had enough. He leans forward angrily. "Quit your stalling, Yugi, or you will forfeit the match."

Yugi, thankfully, is brought back to reality. He turns back to Kaiba, frowning. "_I never forfeit_," he says firmly before drawing another card. He brings it up to his eyes again: needlessly so close that his nose almost touches it. (Probably doesn't have good eyesight, I suppose.) Yugi places some alligator-like creature into attack mode, ending his turn.

"Draw any card you'd like, it won't change a thing," Kaiba says pompously. "My dragons may be frozen for the next two turns, but my next monster is under no such spell!"

"I thought it was called a magic card though, not spell card. This is all so freaking confusing for a card game," I say to myself as Kaiba summons some "Judge Man" card, destroying Yugi's alligator rather easily.

Yugi draws another card, which turns out to be...uh, I don't even know how to describe it. Some human-looking guy wearing spikey purple costume-armour with a headpiece that reminds me very much of a dunce cap.

Dunce Cap Boy is, in actuality, called Dark Magician, if Yugi's booming words are anything to go by. Really, though. Whoever came up with the names of these cards must've been _so _creative.

"Your Judge Man falls," Yugi lamely comments as his magician lifts up a hand towards the judge, who then cracks into tiny pieces of itself. As a result, Kaiba's life points decrease but Yugi is still not in the lead.

Well shit.

Kaiba sighs, somehow managing to continue grinning despite. "A sacrifice that doesn't even phase me," he brags as he glances down at the card in his hand. "Though neither dragon can move for one more turn, my next card is the _third_ Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Yugi exhales loudly, looking rather queasy all the way up there, as another dragon is brought into the gaming field.

"Seriously? SERIOUSLY?" I resist the urge to smack my palm against my forehead. "He has _three_ cards that are the same? Would having four of them really be so terrible then?"

"Now, my dragon, _attack_!" commands Kaiba over my distress. The dragon does so immediately, and it's goodbye for Mr. Dark Magician. Poor guy. From what I could see, he wasn't too bad-looking. Still inwardly lamenting the loss of a rather handsome...uh, card monster or whatever, a sudden sound causes me to glance up just in time to see Yugi's life points go down to four hundred. Meanwhile, Kaiba's? Sitting proudly at a thousand.

"So tell me, Yugi: how's your faith now?" Kaiba asks, smirking victoriously. "On my next turn, all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons are free to attack! This game's over, no matter what card you draw."

"I hope he manages to get another Sword card..." I comment to Joey.

"Swords of Revealing Light," he corrects.

"Oh, _whatever_. Sue me for not remembering the name of some random card, why don't you?"

Wait. Can that actually happen in Japan...?

Hopefully not.

"Dani, pay a little more attention, would ya?" Joey snaps suddenly. "Yugi's got to win this one! He needs your support!"

"Yeah, like my cheerleading will get him a card that he so desperately needs," I say sarcastically, earning yet another glare from Joey. Not one to back down, I decide to go ahead and glare as well.

Joey opens his mouth to say something, but a laugh startles the two of us right out of our bickering.

"You can't _possibly_ have a chance against my Blue-Eyes White Dragons, Yugi. It's over. You were _never_ a match for me," Kaiba continues with his bragging as Yugi only stands there in frustration.

"Don't listen, Yugi!" shouts Joey, finally ending our little glaring contest. He nudges me, obviously wanting me to give the teen some words of encouragement.

I want to ignore him and stay silent, but really, Yugi probably needs some encouragement right now. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place, and probably doesn't want to lose after the spiel both he and his grandfather had kept on sprouting the entire time they had talked to Kaiba.

"You can do it, Yugi! Show Kaiba just how much of a self-righteous little jackass he is by beating him at his own game!"

"Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this, Yugi," Kaiba sneers. "I've had it with you and the idiotic people that you call _friends_."

"My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba," Yugi confidently says, breaking out of his random stupor. He doesn't at all sound as nervous and agitated he seemed to appear from down below. "But," continues Yugi, "it _does_ contain...the Unstoppable Exodia!" He holds up a card, the features of which is impossible for Joey and I to make out.

Kaiba, however, can, from the way he looks horror-stricken. "It isn't possible!" he says, voice rather high-pitched and shaky.

"I've assembled all five special cards, all five pieces of the puzzle," Yugi declares proudly.

A purple spiral forms on the gaming field, along with a pentagram. Soon, large, golden arms emerge out of the spiral, and then out pops a monster that looks rather Egytian and even creepier than Kaiba's Dark Clown. Exodia's larger than all three of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and the monsters stares them down with a malicious grin, teeth glinting white.

"Exodia!" cries Kaiba, stumbling backwards. "It's not possible! No one's _ever_ been able to call him!"

Yugi ignores his words. "Exodia...Obliterate!"

A golden energy ball manifests in between Exodia's outstretched hands, until the monster rears back and throws it the dragons' way single-handedly. It, quite literally, obliterates the Blue-Eyes White Dragons right out of the gaming field. The large sound of the energy ball is coupled by Kaiba's large shout.

Kaiba's life points wind down to zero, while Yugi's stay at four hundred.

"You did it, Yugi! You won!" crows Joey happily, hands clenched.

"You play only for power, Kaiba, and _that_ is why you lost," Yugi says, sounding rather sagely. "But if you put your heart into the game, there is nothing you can't do."

"But...but _how_?" Kaiba asks rather uselessly, bent over the Duel Monsters console. "How could I have lost _to him_?"

"He just told you, sheesh," I say, rolling my eyes. Kaiba ignores my blunt words, too lost in self-deprecation.

"Kaiba, if you truly want to know..._open your mind_!" Yugi, strangely enough, puts his hand directly in front of him, palm facing outwards. Almost like his Dark Magician's move on the Judge Man.

The most strange thing, however, would be how Kaiba cries out, falling to his knees on the platform. I make a face. What a drama queen.

"There, Kaiba. Maybe now you'll begin to see." Yugi drops his arm, looking neutral, while I stand in a state of mass confusion. What, did he somehow telepathically tell Kaiba the meaning to life or something? Why is Kaiba freaking out so much? And just _what in the hell is he supposed to see?_

"I'm confused," I confess to Joey, who continues to look jovial as if whatever that happened between Yugi and Kaiba didn't even occur.

"Well, of course you're confused, Dani," he answers, placing a hand on my shoulder, all past anger towards me somehow easily forgotten. "You haven't played Duel Monsters yet, so you probably don't know how it works as well as the rest of us do. Don't worry, though: Yugi or I can teach you if you want."

"Uh, after seeing what just happened to Kaiba"—he seriously looks as if he's scarred for life, kneeling with his eyes wide and mouth gaping open—"I _really_ don't want to learn Duel Monsters. Especially not from Yugi." The blonde only laughs at my words as if I said the funniest joke ever.

"No. Seriously. I mean it," I tell him, then take out my phone again. "...and we missed geography class."

* * *

Thankfully, my mom accepts my excuse for skipping class when I tell her how Yugi's grandfather almost died and that Yugi had needed moral support. It wasn't completely true, but hey, he _had_ been hospitalized.

Thank the Lord for white lies.

On top of that good luck, for a few days, I managed to convince the others not to go outside of school during lunch. Who knows what other kinds of trouble these teens go through: after all, they had treated the entire incident with Kaiba almost as if it had never happened, apart from the few times they would brag about how great Yugi is, having defeated Kaiba (Joey and Tristan were the only ones who did the bragging).

Yugi, of course, is as humble as I perceived him, saying he only won because he believed in his cards, unlike Kaiba. His voice, weirdly enough, has gone back to being high-pitched and somewhat effeminate. I decide to just ignore it: puberty is a very on-and-off thing, so that might explain the odd situation regarding his voice.

But, when I said I managed to convince the others not to go out during lunch _for a few days_, I really meant it. Just three days after the whole Kaiba incident, I find myself walking alongside the others to the game shop during lunch time. I had tried to get them to not come today but Joey was persistent, saying something about wanting to get better cards to believe in so he can beat Yugi. (Yeah, I know. It doesn't makes sense to me either, Diary.)

It's when Joey and Yugi are flipping through Duel Monsters cards, Tea inspecting a few posters plastered on the walls, and Tristan hungrily eyeing a few games that I remember what I had wanted to give to Yugi's grandfather. Awkwardly, I approach him, fumbling around with the straps of my backpack.

"Uhm, excuse me," I say in a quiet voice. "Yugi's grandfather?"

He turns, giving me a smile that reminds me a lot of Yugi's. "You can just call me Grandpa," he says cheerfully. "The rest of Yugi's friends do, so I don't see why you can't."

I smile back. "Will do," I answer, though the request is kind of odd. Then again, everything about Domino City that I've witnessed so far falls under the same category. "I just wanted to...give you something."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Yugi's grandfather is the picture of surprise. "Give me something?" he repeats.

"Yes," I say, taking off my backpack and opening one of the smaller compartments of it. I fish out the intended item, and the moment his eyes scan it, he gasps, eyes widening.

"My Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" he says, loud enough that the others immediately hear and turn towards Yugi's grandfather and I. Not really one for being the center of attention, I shift my weight from one foot to the other, clearing my throat uselessly.

"Uhm, yes," I say, glancing down at the card. "I know Kaiba ripped it and all, but he threw the pieces on the floor so I kind of gathered them and taped them all together. It doesn't look as impressive as it did before, but you had said that it had sentimental value, so I thought you'd probably want the card anyway."

"You thought right," Yugi's grandfather says, his lips stretched wide and eyes crinkled with laughter lines. He holds out a hand, and I quickly place the card on his palm. "I don't know how to thank you for this."

"Thank me?" I nervously laugh. "There's no need for that. I just taped it together is all. Anyone can do that."

"It's the thought that counts though, Dani," Tea speaks up. "None of us thought of assembling the pieces together, or of even picking them up."

"Yeah, Dani!" enthuses Joey, smiling.

Clearing my throat, I shrug. "I guess so," I mumble, trying to busy myself by zipping my backpack closed and shouldering it. I can only hope I'm not the center of attention anymore. When I look up, though, Yugi is staring right at me, smiling.

"Thank you for doing that for my grandpa, Dani," he says sincerely. "This card means a lot to him."

"I, uh, figured. I mean, if I were him, I would've wanted it whether it was ripped or not," I reply. "It was no trouble at all —" I stop talking, however, when Tristan surprises me by placing an arm across my shoulders.

"Looks like you'll fit in just fine," he says, smiling down at me.

Caught off-guard, I only laugh. "Yeah. I guess so."

Now, don't get me wrong, Diary. They are weirdoes in my opinion, I still have no idea why everything is in English, and we don't even know one another all that well yet. In spite of all this, I can't help think that they aren't half bad.

So, yes. Maybe I _will_ fit in just fine.

* * *

**forlornwriter:** _Oh god it's been a while. I have no excuse to be honest: I just felt kind of unmotivated in regards to this story, or to any of my stories on this site. While I managed to write most of this in one sitting, my other stories...I'm still somewhat unmotivated towards them. The good thing, however, is that I'm back to writing this story. So feel lucky, haha._

_The ending was rather serious I'll admit, but remember that this is only a 'crackish' story. There is crack, but it isn't what drives the story: so expect character and relationship development, maybe a bit of drama, and all of that good stuff. I can't help but think this chapter was kind of lacklustre, so if any of you readers felt the same, I apologize. Hopefully the next chapters will be more interesting!_

_Another thing. I was thinking of making this story Yugi/Dani/Yami, but really I'm still not sure if I want to (note: I kind of want this fic to be Joey/Dani). So, if you are interested, **go to my profile and vote on the Dani/YGO boy pairing you like the most**! Marik/Malik and Yami Bakura/Ryou Bakura aren't added simply because I don't think Dani would work well with them personality-wise._

_To_** SerenePanic:**_ Yes, 911 is the emergency number in Canada. I knew it was the number for America as well due to all the movies and TV shows I watch, haha. And igloo jokes aren't all that common. It's more like one of those 'stereotype urban legends', so thank God no one actually asks that. Or, at least, no one has asked _me_ that yet. While I do watch YGOTAS, I'm doing my best to deviate from it and keep the jokes in this story my own for the most part. You most certainly did not offend me, and I am really glad you enjoy my story and are curious of how life is like in Canada. I hope you continue to read this story to see where it winds up in the future!_

_To_** The White Camellia:**_ As you now probably know, I am very terrible when it comes to updates. I'm very sorry, and I hope to update on a more timely manner in the future!_

_To_** Scaehime-KingofKing's Daughter:**_ I'm glad you're enjoying! And yes. What Dani thinks to be English is Japanese, and what she thinks to be Japanese is English. It's funny because I imagine her to be writing her diary in French, and yet this story (essentially, this story is her diary) is in English._

_Anywhom, thank you to everyone for waiting so patiently, and do comment/favourite/alert if you so wish!_


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